Organizational Behavior and Innovation

[Pages:10]Organizational Behavior and Innovation

IEMS 342 and COMM ST 366

Winter 2011 Tech A-110 Tuesday and Thursday 11:00-12:20

Professor: Email: Office Hours: Location:

Paul Leonardi Leonardi@northwestern.edu W and TH 9-10 and by appointment FSB 2-158

TA: Email: Office Hours: Location:

William Barley wbarley@u.northwestern.edu Thursday 12:30-2:30 FSB 2-168

TA: Email:

Office Hours: Location:

Jeffrey Treem jtreem@

Tuesday 12:30-2:30 FSB 2-168

TA: Email: Office Hours: Location:

Yan Jiang YanJiang2008@u.northwestern.edu Monday 1-2 Tech C-217

OVERVIEW

The purpose of this course is to increase your ability to understand and improve the organizations within which you will work. It is a course in applied behavioral science. By this I mean that we will review some fundamental behavioral science concepts and illustrate how they can be effectively used in organizations. Although the emphasis is on high technology and manufacturing organizations, the course material applies to organizations in general.

This course will also help you understand some of the challenges involved in both managing and being managed. Each week we will explore a different process germane to the functioning of organizations. Each Tuesday we will focus on how entry level managers can participate in and affect the process under study. Each Thursday we will focus on how the process can be influenced by more senior management. Examining organizational processes at various levels of analysis will help you to learn how management practices change as you progress through your career and how the things managers expect you to do change too. Ultimately, the tools and skills developed in this course should equip you to become more effective contributors to organizations that you join. Much of our learning in this course will be through case studies, exercises, and class discussions.

There is no textbook for this course. All readings and case materials are available in PDF format for download from the course's blackboard site.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Lectures

Class participation and attendance are important. If an article is listed for discussion, then you should be prepared to contribute to the class discussion of that article. Specific discussion questions are in the syllabus. A good grade will be difficult to achieve without regular class attendance because the lectures cover material that is not in the readings. Slides from the lectures are a text for this course. An abbreviated version of the slides will be posted on the Blackboard site.

Readings

The readings assigned each week illustrate important concepts in the management of organizational processes. Readings are based on evidence from empirical studies of various practices and strategies of management. The readings are not fluff. They are assigned to provide fodder for discussion and lenses through which to interpret the material presented in the case studies. You should ask yourself the following questions about each reading:

1. What is the central problem the author(s) is trying to solve? 2. What primary mechanisms are posited? 3. What is the evidence to support the argument(s)? How convincing is that evidence? 4. What are the basic assumptions behind the analysis? 5. How do the concepts described in the reading and the insights generated by the analysis explain

phenomena you've seen in your organization

Class Participation (20% of Final Grade)

I'll begin each class period by providing a general overview of the concepts for the day and a broad synthesis of the readings. Our goal in class discussion is application. You should leave class each day with some ideas about how you could apply the concepts we discuss to real projects in your organization. We will talk about each of the readings in more depth. I will ask that you apply as many of the concepts as you can to projects, events, or strategies that you've encountered throughout your career. When you share, it helps others to learn ? and vice-versa.

We will also discuss the assigned case. The cases are selected to present students with a problem that can be solved in a number of ways. In some instances, the concepts from the readings may help to solve the problem, in others they won't. As a class, we will discuss different options to solving case problems and evaluate how well we think each of these options would work. When we discuss cases in class, you should employ the following strategies:

1. Make sure you are considering the problem that is presented in the case. 2. When discussing a specific issue, remember why you are discussing it and where it fits into the

overall problem. 3. If you have considered some alternatives and rejected them, tell us what and why. 4. Summarize what you have learned and what the implications appear to be.

Daily Quizzes (10% of Final Grade)

Each day, we will begin class with a short four-question quiz about the readings for the week. This quiz will be given at 11 am sharp. There are no make-ups if you are late to class unless arrangements have been previously made with the professor. You have the opportunity to submit one question each week for inclusion in the quiz. If your question is selected, you will automatically receive 100% on that day's quiz. To submit your question, you must send an email to William Barley (wbarley@u.northwestern.edu) by 5pm on Monday. You may submit only one question per week.

Module Examinations (each 15%, for total of 45% of Final Grade)

All examinations are closed book and closed notes. They will cover all lectures, readings, and group assignments unless stated otherwise. Please note that you are responsible for readings that are not covered in class and lecture material that is not in the readings. Requests for alternative examination times are subject to instructor approval, should be made with regard to equity with other students, and must be made within 2 weeks of the start of the quarter.

Group Assignment (25% of Final Grade)

Since organizational work involves working and communicating with others, you are asked to participate in a group project. You will be randomly assigned to work in groups of four or five. The aim of the group project is two-fold: 1) the project allows you to directly experience the social processes we discuss in the second part of our course and 2) the project allows you to evaluate a recent organizational event using the organizational concepts we have learned and the analytical skills you have developed in the course. Additional information on the group project is provided in Appendix A.

Please submit a detailed proposal describing your event of interest and the organizational concepts you intend to apply to the professor on Monday, January 31, 2011. This proposal should be 2 pages and will outline (1) a brief description of the event (2) why your group is interested in this event (again see Appendix B for more information). The final paper should be 12-15 pages long, double-spaced. Please be sure to correctly cite your sources in your paper and to provide a list of references in APA style at the end of your paper (see Appendix B). You should also provide the first page of any internet source that you reference in the appendix of your paper. The final group project assignment is due by email at 10am Monday, March 14, 2011.

A note on team effort: While we hope that all group members would strive to equally contribute to the group project, we realize that this is not always the case. Therefore, the grade you receive on the group assignment will depend on your contribution to the project, which will be determined by your fellow team members. This policy exists to discourage slackers or free riders. Specifically, each group member will individually and anonymously evaluate his or her team members' contributions to the project (see Appendix C for the team evaluation form). This is done by having each team member distribute points across group members such that there exists a mean value of 100. For example, if Alex gets 110, Bridget gets 100, and Christine gets 90, then Alex will get 110% of whatever grade the project receives, Bridget gets 100% and Christine gets 90%. All point allocations must include a brief 1-2 sentence explanation of the grade assignment. This team evaluation form is due by e-mail to the professor by 10am Monday March 14, 2011.

NORTHWESTERN POLICY STATEMENTS

Students with Disabilities

In compliance with Northwestern University policy and equal access laws, I am available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that you may require as a student with a disability. Request for academic accommodations need to be made during the first week of the quarter, except for unusual circumstances, so arrangements can be made. Students are encouraged to register with Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) for disability verification and for determination of reasonable academic accommodations. For more information, visit:

Academic Integrity at Northwestern

Students are expected to comply with University regulations regarding academic integrity. If you are in doubt about what constitutes academic dishonesty, speak to the instructor before the assignment is due and/or examine the University web site. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to cheating on an exam (e.g., copying others' answers, providing information to others, using a crib sheet) or plagiarism of a paper (e.g., taking material from readings without citation, copying another student's paper). Failure to maintain academic integrity on an assignment will result in a loss of credit for that assignment-at a minimum. Other penalties may also apply. The guidelines for determining academic dishonesty and procedures followed in a suspected incident of academic dishonesty are detailed on the website. For more information, visit: rity/

MODULE 1: MANAGING PEOPLE

Week 2: Motivation

Tuesday January 11, 2011 READINGS

1. A New Strategy for Job Enrichment 2. How Do You Motivate Employees? CASES 1. Starbucks 2. A Tale of Two Companies

Thursday January 13, 2011 ACTIVITY

1. Sky Scraper Building

Week 3: Socialization

Tuesday January 18, 2011

READINGS

1. Becoming a Marihuana User 2. The Smile Factory 3. Getting New Hires up to Speed Quickly

Thursday January 20, 2011 CASES

1. The Pink Panther Video (to be watched in class)

ACTIVITY 1. Socialization Exercise

Week 4: Influence

Tuesday January 25, 2011 READINGS

1. Harnessing the Science of Persuasion 2. Change Through Persuasion CASES 1. Children's Hospital and Clinics (A)

*** Purchase Case from

Thursday January 27, 2011 *EXAM*

1. Module 1 Summary Examination

MODULE 2: MANAGING TEAMS

Week 5: Decision Making

Tuesday February 1, 2011 READINGS

1. Lessons From Everest 2. How Top Management Teams Can Fight

Thursday February 3, 2011 CASES

1. Carter Racing

ACTIVITY 1. Hiring a University President

Week 6: Power

Tuesday February 8, 2011 READINGS

1. Who Gets Power 2. Understanding Power in Organizations CASES 1. Monica's Education

Thursday February 10, 2011 ACTIVITY

1. Sacred Ground

Week 7: Culture

Tuesday February 15, 2011 READINGS

1. Organizational Culture and Leadership 2. Managing by Leveraging Culture CASES 1. Changing the Culture at British Airways

*** Purchase Case from

Thursday February 17, 2011 *EXAM*

1. Module 2 Summary Examination

MODULE 3: MANAGING INNOVATION PROCESSES

Week 8: Idea Generation

Tuesday February 22, 2011

Thursday February 24, 2011

READINGS

ACTIVITY

1. How to Kill Creativity 2. Are you Networked for Successful Innovation? 3. Technology Brokering

1. The Creative Environment

CASES

1. IDEO Product Development *** Purchase Case from

Week 9: Idea Realization

Tuesday March 1, 2011

READINGS

1. How Industries Change 2. Meeting the Challenge of Disruptive Change

CASES

1. Flight of the Kittyhawk *** Purchase Case from

Thursday March 3, 2011 ACTIVITY

1. Carrier Truck

Week 10: Implementation

Tuesday March 8, 2011 READINGS

1. Framing for Learning 2. Implementing New Technology ACTIVITY 1. BikeStuff

Thursday March 10, 2011 *EXAM*

1. Module 3 Summary Examination

Appendix A

Group Project Guidelines

Overview:

Every day we learn of new organizational events such as impending leadership changes, mergers and acquisitions, and organizational errors. These current organizational events allow us to explore, test, and refine our understanding of organizational theory. The aim of the group project is two-fold: 1) the project allows you to directly experience the social processes we discuss in the second part of our course and 2) the project allows you to evaluate a recent organizational event using the organizational concepts we have learned and the analytical skills you have developed in the course.

Suggestions for getting started:

For this assignment, you should begin by perusing newspapers (e.g. Wall Street Journal) and business periodicals (e.g. Business Week, Fortune, Forbes). You should select a preliminary topic of interest and follow it for several days to ensure that additional information about the event becomes available. You may also want to examine older issues of the newspaper or business press to see how past literature may have presented the issue (e.g. Was the now troubled CEO once portrayed as the next star? Was this now notorious firm once portrayed as the ideal organization?). Depending on the age of the organization, you may also be able to find books on the organization. Once you have at least 10 sources (you may have fewer if you are using books), you should draw upon these sources as well as course materials to conduct a careful analysis of the event as well as provide recommendations for improving the outcome of the event.

In analyzing the event, you may want to consider:

-how does this particular event compare to other similar events/cases? -how does this particular event compare with previous views of the organization? -what organizational dynamics were operating in the event? -what could the individual or organization have done to change the outcome of the event?

Assignment Structure:

Part I: Overview of the event (suggested length = 2 pages)

a. Description of the event. The event should be presented such that someone unfamiliar with the event can understand the key issues at hand. This discussion of the background of the event should lead you to a guiding question that you would like to address in the paper, and the concepts you select should address this question.

b. Example: NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.) began as a joint venture between Ford and Toyota. While previously the plant had been shut down due to many labor problems, by reopening and applying many management principles from Toyota, the plant began to thrive. What management practices led to the success of NUMMI?

Part II: Link the event you selected to one (or more) of the concepts or theories we covered in class (suggested length = 7-10 pages long)

a. Typically the strongest papers focus on 2-3 concepts that are discussed in depth.

b. Review the concept or theory and explain how it is operating in this particular event. More specifically, assume that you are explaining the concept to someone who has no knowledge of organizational

communication. Additionally, provide clear and specific examples from the case to support your analysis. Be sure to link the example back to the concept by telling me how the example demonstrates the concept.

c. Example: From a human resources perspective, NUMMI has been successful because it focuses on empowering employees. For instance, employees are involved in job design.

Part III: Drawing on course concepts, give your assessment of and recommendations that follow from the event (suggested length = 2-3 pages long)

a. In giving your assessment, it may be helpful to consider: Was it handled well? Or would you have done something differently? For recommendations, it might help to consider: what could the organization/person itself/him/herself have done differently (if the event could have been better). Alternatively, you might consider how other organizations/people might learn from the event and how they might apply it to their situation. These recommendations should be specific and tell us how to these recommendations might actually be implemented.

b. Example: NUMMI's success shows that investing in the employees can be beneficial to both the employee and the organization. Employees might feel more empowered if they are able to be involved in the training of others or have greater control over their job. Organizations might benefit from employee involvement by seeking and using employee suggestions.

A note on references: see Appendix C for correct citation within the text of your paper as well as in the reference section. Additionally, remember that for any internet source used, you must provide the 1st page of that document in the appendix of your paper.

Please be sure to cover each of these three parts explicitly. The examples are for illustrative purposes; your actual responses should delve deeper into the links between course concepts and the event at hand. Sample papers are available on Blackboard.

Good Luck!!!

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